Jude's Test Of Mettle

Illawarra Mercury

Wednesday October 22, 2008

By CHRIS ROOTS

IT'S the classic prince-and-pauper clash as Wollongong's Get Up Jude lines up against English aristocrat Bauer in the $200,000 Group Three Geelong Cup (2406m) today.

The prize for the winner should be a start in next month's Melbourne Cup.

"We are just a little Australian stayer, who is in form, and dreaming of getting into the Melbourne Cup," Get Up Jude's trainer Diane Poidevin-Laine said.

"We need to win (today) to get a penalty to get into the (Melbourne) Cup.

"And everyone else in the race including that English horse are in the same place."

Get Up Jude has done some of his preparation on the beach alongside Port Kembla steelworks, while Bauer is prepared on the long famous gallops at Newmarket in England.

Bauer was backed from $6 into $4.50 with TAB Sportsbet after Geelong Cup betting opened on Monday and will look to join Media Puzzle in 2002 as an international winner of the race.

Get Up Jude is a $15 chance despite his strong Sydney staying form.

He won the Group Three Colin Stephen Quality (2400m) before running third to Newport in the Group One Metropolitan (2400m) at Randwick last start.

The omens around the Geelong Cup are not good for Get Up Jude with two previous Kembla Grange-trained horses, Don Raphael and Vanquished, having luckless runs in the race in 2004 and 2006, after finishing third in the Metropolitan.

The pattern for past Kembla stayers has been to run in the Group Three Stephen Quality and Group One Metropolitan in Sydney before heading for the Geelong Cup.

Don Raphael took the same form as Get Up Jude to Geelong in 2004, a win in the the Colin Stephen and a third placing in the Metropolitan.

"You want to win at Geelong, so you can go straight to the Melbourne Cup," Don Raphael's trainer Kerry Parker said.

"We drew (barrier) one and got the box-seat run but never got out and went to the line hard held and finished fourth.

"That meant we had to go the Saab, which is not a great option."

Two years later Vanquished put his Melbourne Cup dreams on the line at Geelong, after a luckless third to Caulfield Cup winner Tawqeet in the Metropolitan.

Part owner Matt Howlin watched in horror as his charge was shuffled back through the field approaching the turn, only to charge home for second behind Mandela.

"Greg Childs rode him and came back and just said sorry," Howlin said.

"He thought he was still going to win on the turn but the horse put his foot in a hole and that just took the edge off him and he got beaten under a length."

© 2008 Illawarra Mercury

Back to News Index | Back to Home